I have a question about redshirts. We know (Trevor) Cooney has chosen to do this and that it’s a very rare thing under (Jim Boeheim). Other than because of injury can you tell us how often a basketball player under Boeheim has chosen to take a redshirt year here?

— Dennis G.

There have been a number of players who have taken a redshirt year during Boeheim’s tenure.

Among those who have sat out a year in order to gain eligibility in their fifth year of college are: Mike Hopkins, Lazarus Sims, Matt Gorman, David Siock, J.B. Reafsnyder and Otis Hill.

The list of players who would have benefited from a redshirt year is just as long or longer: Danny Schayes, Matt Roe, Damone Brown, Preston Shumpert and Luke Jackson are tops among them. And then there are the players who transferred instead of redshirting.

I wondered, before Bernie Fine got fired, had the SU basketball program ever fired a head coach or an assistant coach during the season? SU, it seems, does not frequently fire coaches in-season in any sport.

— Mike in Syracuse

I searched my brain, the SU media guide and a couple of books on the history of the Syracuse basketball program and I couldn’t come up with one example of a coach being fired during the season.

Syracuse has had just three head coaches since 1962 and just five since 1924.

In football, I had only had to go back to last season when assistant coach Bob Casullo left the program a week before the final regular-season game.

I was wondering how much contact Syracuse coaches can have with a recruit after they have signed the letter of intent. For example, can they watch them play and give them (or their high school coach) tips on things they need to work on? Could an SU strength and conditioning coach give a recruit some things to work on?

— Dennis

Once a prospect has signed a letter of intent, the communication between the player and the college coaching staff is unlimited in terms of phone calls and text messages, according to the Big East office.

The college coach can watch the player, talk to the player and offer an evaluation, including things to work on. In addition, the college strength and conditioning coach can give the player a workout routine to follow.